Out Side R

Just listened to Horses, Patti Smith's first album from '75. Whhoooooo man. I don't think I've felt such a need to sit with an album and try and understand it before -- you can't put this music on just as background noise. man o man . . . i need to write more when I better understand.
For now, I will say that Ms. Smith and her band have the uncanny, un-nerving and unusual ability to sneak inside a pop song and then tear it completely apart and inside out, like a virus. This album has at the very least versions of "Gloria" (the rock standard penned by Van Morrison), "Birdland" (which I know best as a Chubby Checker tune), "Land of 1000 Dances" (it's the one that talks about all sorts of dances like the mashed potatoe and twistin' with lucy) and "My Generation" (in which she out-punks The Who, which is rather terrifying), and I could be missing other mutated songs, since some of these are barely recognizable from the originals.

Music explodes!

I get frustrated sometimes because I feel like my tastes in art and culture and, quite frankly what I value most in life are rare and not shared by many people around me. Sometimes I honestly wish I could just enjoy . . . I don't know, A Beautiful Mind or The DaVinci Code or whatever, just so that I could connect with people more easily.
But quite frankly, I don't think I could live in a place where everyone shared my values. I tend to naturally react against what is established or easily embraced. If I were to meet someone who liked all of the same things I do, I think I would be suspicious and maybe even a little threatened.
But every once in a while, it sure sounds nice.

edit: You can apparently listen to that Patti Smith album for free on the RS website, although I haven't tried it myself, so I don't know how easy or fun it is, but it's worth checking out (scroll to the bottom).

edit 2: The X-Men 3 trailer!!!! See, there is some stuff out there that you and I both like!